This post is written by Microsoft, a Diamond Level sponsor of the 2018 Advance CTE Spring Meeting.

Technology skills requirements are rapidly changing in the workforce. Skills and learning including technology skills that used to be important for a narrow band of students pursuing computer science or technology curriculum are now priorities across the education spectrum. Jobs require increasing technical skills across all sectors from health care to banking to marketing. In fact, it’s increasingly difficult to think of a position or career that is not touched in some way by technology.

Meanwhile, today’s global youth unemployment rate is 13.1% and rising. 50% of today’s jobs require depth technology skills and this is predicted to increase to more than 77% in less than a decade. According to an IT labor shortage report, there will be 6.2 million new IT jobs by 2022, most in cloud-related fields.  We also know that 71% of jobs classified as STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) related are in computing fields or the “T” in STEM. Yet, only 8% of graduates are enrolled in the relevant Computer Science programs in universities. And it’s a challenge that starts earlier and raises a good question as to how Microsoft and others in the industry can collaborate with educators and government leaders in the US and globally to help equip younger learners (and educators) in K-12 with resources to help fill the future pipeline for technical skills.

Microsoft is committed to making this space of technical and employability skills education in schools a priority across the US and in markets around the globe. A key part of that focus is collaboration and alliance with the mission of Career and Technical Education (CTE) in the US and represented in multiple, ongoing partnerships Microsoft has formed with state leaders and CTE programs across the country.

Microsoft’s hallmark Imagine Academy skills program is designed as a partnership opportunity with K-12 high schools as well as middle schools to help deliver meaningful, relevant and valuable skills-based learning programs with outcomes of Economic Development, Entrepreneurship and Employability – factors relevant to governors and policy-makers in states and communities across the US. With schools engaging for the employability skills priority in all 50 states, Washington, DC, and Puerto Rico,

Microsoft and its certification partner Certiport, a Pearson VUE Business, are focused on a highly impactful formula for institutions, educators and students to incorporate both the latest technology skills curriculum and industry validation leading to skills for success and career preparation for students

A key focus of the Microsoft Imagine Academy program is also on state and school leaders looking to transition their education systems to meet the demands of an increasingly competitive global economy. A critical part of that digital transformation in schools is preparing teachers for technology and innovation adoption in the classroom. Microsoft Imagine Academy designed with student outcomes in mind and also built to provide educators the resources they need to bring practical, applied technical learning to the classroom and blended learning experiences globally.

Microsoft Imagine Academy provides industry aligned curricula and certifications to train and validate students and educators competencies for high-demand technologies .The program focus is on four in-demand learning and career pathways of  study: Computer Science, Data Science, IT Infrastructure, and Productivity.

Program courses are available online and can be used for classroom instruction, blended learning and self-paced learning. Each school membership includes access to more than 150 cloud and classroom-based courses for students, staff and educators and helps prepare learners for Microsoft’s globally recognized industry certifications:

• Microsoft Office Specialist (MOS)
• Microsoft Technology Associate (MTA)
• Microsoft Certified Professional (MCP)
• Microsoft Certified Educator (MCE)

Today’s Imagine Academy is utilized in more than 16,000 academic institutions around the world, reaches 8.5 million students and educators annually, and last school year helped deliver 2.3M certification exams in academic institutions around the world.

Thank you to the many state CTE leadership teams Microsoft is already collaborating with for success. Through alliances with state leaders and the energized support of CTE programs nationally, thousands of students each year are participating in the premier Microsoft Office Specialist (MOS) championships competition and gaining strong preparation for future college and careers.  Microsoft is proud to support the mission of CTE programs nationally and looks forward to further alliance with state leaders in helping prepare the next generation workforce for success.

“Thanks to the NCDPI’s partnership with Microsoft… teachers are improving their technology knowledge; and students are building the twenty-first century skills that will make them more marketable to future employers.” – Dr. June Atkinson, former North Carolina State Superintendent of Public Instruction

This post is written by Lincoln Electric, a Diamon Level sponsor of the 2018 Advance CTE Spring Meeting.

According to the American Welding Society, 30,000 new welders must enter the workforce each year to keep up with demand and offset retirements, and more than 10 times as many jobs will need to be filled during the next 10 years. This equates into abundant opportunities in a variety of welding disciplines for students looking to begin a career in the trades.

But the welding profession is evolving, as is the definition of knowing how to weld.

To remain competitive globally, today’s manufacturers require welders with experience in more types of welds than ever before, as well as an understanding of robotic automation, advanced equipment, exotic materials, specialized code certification, welding theory and welding procedure specifications.

As the welding profession evolves, so, too, does education.

Welding booths and Statiflex weld fume extraction system at Lincoln Electric’s Welding Technology and Training Center.

In its second century of welding education, Lincoln Electric is responding to this evolution by offering U/LINC®, the industry’s most comprehensive curriculum, immersing students in the latest techniques and theories related to welding and cutting.

Our new Lincoln Electric Welding Technology and Training Center (WTTC) in Cleveland, Ohio, provides students with access to the most innovative welding solutions. In this showcase welding school environment, students learn on the latest advanced equipment, modes and processes. Advanced training is available on waveform technology, automation, production monitoring and metallurgy.

Students will leave the WTTC with both a better knowledge base about welding and about the underlying theories and rules behind specific processes. And educators, who typically come from industry with little or no background in teaching, will learn how to develop lesson plans, engage students, and adopt best practices in lab and classroom activities and take that knowledge back to their own schools. Industrial teams can tailor training around specific weld qualifications, equipment or knowledge needs. Welding, civil and manufacturing engineers seeking professional development will enhance their understanding of design with welding in mind.

Lincoln Electric is excited to play a leading role in the education and development of future generations of welders as we have for more than 100 years. We stand ready to deliver the highly skilled and knowledgeable welding leaders that industry demands.

Learn more about the complete portfolio of Lincoln Electric welding education equipment, curriculum, education discounts, educator professional development, welding simulators and more at:

http://education.lincolnelectric.com

This post is written by Harris School Solutions, a Diamond Level sponsor of the 2017 Advance CTE Spring Meeting.

As we draw near to the end of another school year, we should be asking ourselves, “Have we prepared this year’s graduates to really be ‘college and career ready?’” To answer that question, we first must decide what, exactly, that phrase really means.

Nearly every state in the nation is on a fast and furious quest to answer this question. College and Career Indicators (CCI) have emerged, as each state is defining various criteria that can be measured to validate “college and career readiness.” In today’s world of data crunching, this phrase should not be just a subjective evaluation; it must be quantifiable, based on specific and measurable student outcomes.

Some examples of CCI are more easily measured. Business internships give students real-world work experience. Practical-skill attainment based on robust CTE Programs of Study can lead to increased student engagement. Industry credentials can be earned before a student graduates from high school.

However, one of the most highly sought after CCIs remains elusive and difficult to define: CTE completion. While everyone wants to claim their students have “completed” a career pathway or program of study, what exactly does this mean? Some states define it by the number of hours a student is enrolled in a given pathway. Others base it on the amount of curriculum completed, where 70 percent is often a universally accepted threshold of proficiency.

CTE completion rates are complicated by the fact that different states offer CTE programs during different intervals of secondary education. High schools that specialize in CTE often provide three- or four-year programs of study, where students can accumulate 360-400 hours of concentrated CTE study per year. In traditional high schools, students may take a CTE course for only two or three hours per week in a given semester, accumulating, on average, 180 hours of study. Some practitioners feel it’s important to distinguish between enrollment duration and attendance hours. If a student is absent for two weeks, she potentially could lose 30 or more hours of seat time, thus affecting her ability to “complete.”

Regardless, if our quest is to measure whether a student is truly “college and career ready,” then expressing these various metrics in a universal dashboard is critical. Though the goal of consensus may be ambitious, aggregating data to share CTE outcomes is nonetheless a necessity for objective comparison and subsequent improvement. Furthermore, interpreting the data to help key stakeholders – students and parents – understand the value of a CTE education will help students to realize the opportunity for high-skill, high-wage, high-demand careers.

California has taken the lead in creating a CTE College and Career Indicator Dashboard. The Association of Career and College Readiness Organizations (CAROCP) is trailblazing an initiative to define what deems a student to be “college and career ready.” What makes the California initiative impressive is that it is a grassroots movement; a group of 11 pilot sites have published the first edition of a California CCI Dashboard. They started with simple metrics, but have gained the attention of the California Department of Education. In fact, superintendents from across California recently marched into the State Capitol, armed with mobile devices, sharing evidence of CTE student success using the CCI Dashboard. The Senators loved it – and asked for more.

We know all students must be “college and career ready” by the time they graduate. By striving to utilize our CTE data in meaningful and productive ways, we can help others to realize the benefits that a CTE education has to offer today’s students in accomplishing that goal. But that only happens if we, as CTE educators, commit our time, resources, and energy to ensuring “college and career ready” stands for something more than just words – we must translate it into numbers.

To learn more about how your state can collect and measure College and Career Indicators, please contact Kathy Ritch, Harris School Solutions, at kritch@harriscomputer.com.